SLC XI makes India bowlers sweat in hot and humid Colombo

Sri Lanka Cricket XI made India's bowlers toil hard on day 1 of the ongoing three-day warm-up game at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo on Friday (August 7). India went into the opening day without their designated captain Shubman Gill, who was advised rest after sustaining a blow to his right ring finger during a training session. KL Rahul took over the reins in Gill's absence.

Sonal Dinusha, the captain of SLC XI, won the toss and elected to bat on a placid surface. Their openers Nishan Fernando (66 off 65) and Ravindu Rasantha (71 off 143) added 110 runs at a brisk rate and put the Indians under the pump. Both batters looked compact and pounced on any scoring opportunity which came their way.

The partnership met an anticlimactic end as both batters found themselves at the non-striker's end as a result of a miscommunication, and Fernando had to walk back to the dressing room.

Unfazed by the incident, Rasantha carried on his merry way and added 61 runs for the second wicket alongside Pasindu Sooriyabandara (35). Ravindra Jadeja snapped the stand with one that went in with the angle and snuck past Sooriyabandara's attempted pull. Rasantha fell soon after, failing to get to the pitch of a ball from Manav Suthar and ended up skying one to mid-off.

SLC XI's batting veered away a tad bit afterwards, and barring a 63-run partnership between Dinusha and Ramesh Mendis, they couldn't conjure much magic. Dinusha was the third half-centurion of the day. He scored 52 with the help of five fours and a six before he missed an attempted sweep and was pinned in front of his stumps by Suthar. SLC XI ended the day on 363/8.

Suthar (2/33) was the pick of all the India bowlers. Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav also claimed two wickets apiece but went over four an over. Gurnoor Brar snared one scalp, conceding 49 runs in 12 overs. Mohammed Siraj (0/44), Prasidh Krishna (0/32) and Saransh Jain (0/54) went wicketless.